The present invention relates to tire chain installers In particular, the present invention relates to an adjustable size tire chain installer which can be mounted on essentially any size of vehicular tire. In addition, the invention relates to a tire chain installer which includes improved end hooks or cradles and exerts sufficient gripping force for retaining chains on the installer over 360.degree. rotation. As a result, my tire chain installer readily mounts chains on either or both front and rear tires.
Various configurations of tire chain installers are available in the art. However, many tire chain installers comprise a metal U-shaped body for clamping over the outer transverse circumference of a tire. Typically, these installers include hooks or other fastening devices on the opposite ends of the U-body for retaining the chain while the wheel and installer are positioned on or near the top of the tire and then rotated over the top of the tire to mount the chain. As a group such tire chain installers are limited in terms of the size of tire to which they can be mounted. That is, different size tire chain installers are required to cover the range of tires, for example, from small automobile tires through truck tires.
Also, such tire chain installers typically exert a relatively low gripping force against tires. In addition, the end hooks or other fasteners incorporated in such tire chain installers typically can hold the tire chains only at certain orientations of the tire, for example, with the tire chain installer on top of the tire, but not at the bottom. As a consequence of the low gripping force and of the inability to retain chains at all radial orientations, such tire chain installers have a tendency to drop the chains or to disengage from the tires themselves during rotation. This tendency of the tire chain installer and tire chains to come loose is increased if the chains are mounted by rotating the tire chain installer underneath the tire rather than over the top, because the bottom rotation subjects the installer and chains to additional force between the ground and the moving tire at the most unstable (i.e., bottom) point of the rotation. Over-the-top rotation may be somewhat more successful because the tire chains are partially wrapped around the tire at the time the tire chain installer reaches the bottom of the tire and thus may somewhat counteract the tendency to disengage.
The above-described difficulties in using tire chain installers, particularly where it is desirable or necessary to rotate the tire chain installer beneath the tire, makes such tire chain installers difficult to use in awkward installations and in awkward situations such as bad weather.
One example of a difficult installation involves mounting chains on front wheels, for example, on front wheel drive vehicles. For comparison, consider first the process of mounting chains or rear wheels. Chains usually are mounted on rear wheels by attaching the tire chain installer to the rear side or top of the tire, laying the chains behind the tire and slowing driving forward to rotate the installer and the chains over the top of the tire.
It would be desirable to be able to attach tire chains to front wheels by driving forward. This would involve attaching the tire chain installer to the front or top of the tire, laying the chains so they extend in front of the tire and slowly driving forward over the chains. However, as discussed above, conventional tire chain installers tend to disengage from the tire and/or to drop the tire chains when used in this way. As a result, the use of conventional tire chain installers to mount chains on front wheels requires that the car either be backed up (to rotate the installer over the top of the front wheel) or that the installation be accomplished with the car stationary, that is, by working under the car and, thus, in snow or mud.